Physics Lab,
10161
Instructor: T. W. Zerda
SWR #142, ph.
817-257-7124, email t.zerda@tcu.edu,
office
hours Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00-4:00
(if
I am not in my office please go to the lab or check rooms 127, 123, 133, 143)
Text: Physics
Lab available on http://personal.tcu.edu/~zerda/man10161.htm
The students are expected to
complete a minimum of 11 experiments.
Each experiment is composed of three parts: a quiz, actual measurements,
and a report. Students who complete less
than 11 experiments will have the final grade reduced by one letter for each
lab missing. For example, if your
average is 95 and you completed 11 experiments the letter grade would be an A,
but if you completed 10 labs, the grade will be reduced to a B,
if you completed 9 labs that grade will be reduced to a C.
We will meet once a week. If you have excused absences every effort should be made to do the experiment that you missed with another group. Students with unexcused absences will be allowed to run make-up lab. The labs will be run in the order listed below, however, since there will be two different experiments running simultaneously you should ask the lab assistant which experiment you will do on the next lab. Before you can start the experiment you must take a quiz, which is based solely on the information in the lab manual. There will be three questions related to the experiment. The test will be returned to you with the report and will count for 20% of the total grade. The experiments will be conducted in groups of two or three students. Each student should submit his/her own report. Reports should be turned in on the next lab.
Lab manual is on my web page. Go to:
http://personal.tcu.edu/~zerda/man10161.htm and open the file with the
particular lab instructions. You may
have to download Adobe Acrobat Reader to be able to read the files. If you forget the address you may go to TCU
home page (www.tcu.edu), open Schools/Programs, then Science and Engineering,
next Physics & Astronomy, next Faculty, next
Zerda/Web Page and double click on To Visit The Phys10161 Lab Page, and follow
the instructions.
1. Type
your name, date, the day of the week you did the lab
and the name of the instructor. (5
points)
2. Introduction: (15 points)
To write the
introduction you may select one of the two options. (i) You may focus
on answering questions posted in the last section of the manual called “Report”
or (ii) write a standard introduction.
If you select the latter option briefly give a general overview of the
experiment, your expectations and theory behinds it. Summarize the whole point
of doing the lab. Most key points to writing your introduction can be found in
Introduction section of the manual. Your introduction should be about a page
long.
3. Results: (20 points)
Present the data
in the form of a table or a graph. Usually you will give details of what you
observed in the lab. Only important information pertinent to the lab should be
presented. Show any calculations carried
out etc. Remember to add units.
4. Conclusion: (40 points)
Discuss
in your own words and from your point of view your results. Example: Looking at
your results, tables or graph, can you see any general trend? For example, does
the resistance of a wire increases with temperature? What is the behavior of
the graph/line? What was the aim of the experiment? Have we achieved anything?
If not, how large is the error? Does your result make sense? Can you compare
your result to those from the books?
What does the book say? Is your
observation justified by the relevant equations from the test? Have you
answered any question asked?
Grades
Each experiment will be graded on the
scale from 0 to 100 (up to 20 points for the quiz and up to 80 points for the
report). By the end of the semester, we
will determine the average by dividing the total number of points by 11. During the twelfth and thirteenth weeks the
students will have an option to do an extra lab to replace the worst grade and
to run a make-up lab. At
this time, any student who missed a lab, regardless if the absence was excused
or unexcused, can make up one lab.
Letter grades will be
assigned according to the scale:
90.1 – 100 A
80.1 – 90 B
70.1 – 80 C
60.1 – 70 D
Policies and procedures regarding your rights as well as responsibilities are published in the TCU Student Handbook, available on line at http://www.studentaffairs.tcu.edu/handbook/handbook.htm. Specifically, review Section 3.4 regarding Academic misconduct, i.e. cheating, plagiarism etc.
Safety issues: Students should read these laboratory
safety guidelines which are not all inclusive but provide necessary information
for the more common situations that may be develop. However, the laboratory
safety is based on each student's exercising common sense and caution when
conducting an experiment. Report all injuries to the instructor or lab
assistant, and if medical assistance is necessary call
All experiments are safe if conducted according to the manual. Safety glasses or lab coats are not required in this laboratory, however, if a student desires to wear safety glasses, they are available upon request.
In the lab you will use a low power helium-neon laser. This laser may be used without safety glasses, but you must not under any circumstances look into the laser beam or its reflection off metal surfaces. Especially dangerous are reflections off jewelry and watches. Do not use mirrors to reflect laser beam.
In most of the experiments you will use electric power. Be careful not to touch simultaneously electric wires and water or gas outlets since they form a ground. When water is spilled on your workbench, turn off all electric equipment and wipe up the water. Never work on electric circuits with wet hands or while standing on a wet floor. Even low voltages can be dangerous in such situations. Some of the power supplies used in the laboratory have low voltage output, but the current that can be pulled from these devises may be strong enough to cause severe burns.
Eating, drinking and smoking are not permitted in the laboratory.
Liquid nitrogen is safe if handled properly. While pouring nitrogen into dewars avoid splashing. To protect eyes you may want to wear safety glasses. Do not touch liquid nitrogen. If your clothes get wet with liquid nitrogen, take the clothes off immediately. Forget modesty. In most cases liquid nitrogen will evaporate harmlessly, but when once the clothes get wet, nitrogen may cause severe frostbite.
When a fire alarm sounds, all the students must leave the building and may not return to the lab unless told by campus police or fire officials. Before leaving the laboratory turn off all equipment.
In a case of
emergency notify the lab instructor or the Chairman of the Physics Department,
308
We will do the experiments in the following
order:
Week of
Lab No. Lab title
Jan.
22 8 Electric field mapping
Jan.
29 1 Electric measurements
Feb.
5 14 Superconductor
17 Temperature
coefficient of resistivity
Feb.
12 14 Superconductor
17 Temperature coefficient of resistivity
Feb.
19 22 Stefan-Boltzmann law
9 Measurement of the mass of
electron
Feb.
26 22 Stefan-Boltzmann law
9 Measurement of the mass of
electron
Mar.
5 12 Magnetic field of a solenoid
4 Magnetic force on a
current-carrying conductor
Mar.
12 Spring
break
Mar.
19 12 Magnetic field of a solenoid
4 Magnetic
force on a current-carrying conductor
Mar.
26 6 AC circuits and electric
resonance
Apr.
2 19 Microwave optics
21 Spectrum of hydrogen
Apr.
9 19 Microwave optics
21 Spectrum
of hydrogen
Apr.
16, additional lab 20 Spherical lenses
15 Reflection and refraction
Apr.
23, make up lab 27 Current
and resistance
23
Electrical equivalent of heat